City Adventure - Part One

Good Monday morning!

I hope everyone had a a great weekend. We certainly did, and part of the reason why is because it's not over yet. We're off the entire week. Nine whole days! YES!

There's a new pic in the Showcase Picture of the Week. There's a couple of some weekend happenings. I'll be adding one or two pictures a day of the City Adventure we took to Memphis this past summer, also.

Roxie has been fighting NOT celebrating any part of Christmas until after Thanksgiving. I haven't told her yet, but since we are going to be out of town next weekend, I have to bring up two of our trees and have them ready to light when we get home Sunday night. She is NOT going to be happy. We're going to have to make our Christmas Tree Farm run sometime the next week when Mikie can get off work early, so some of our decorating will have to be done after December 1. That's not how I like it to be, but we do keep everything up until New Year's Eve so that will help my feelings a little.

And just to drive her a little more over the edge, we had her friend, Ragan, over today to do gingerbread houses. (See pictures above.) Gingerbread houses were fine... crafty and fun, but Ragan wanted to have Christmas music playing, too. Okay. Roxie was a good, little hostess. (She's like that with her food, too. She doesn't like anthing touching anything else. Just like she doesn't like Halloween "touching" Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving "touching" Christmas. We have got to get a little more flexible over here!)

Today's a big day. Today I reveal Goal Number Three. That's right! It's one of my favorites.

I've always loved getting mail. Any kind of mail... letters, cards, magazines, other people's mail, etc. But Christmas cards. Oh, the joy! To hear from people you haven't heard from all year. To get pictures of their little ones and their puppies and kittens. To just get the cards themselves all festive and beautiful. To receive a letter telling every tiny little detail that has happened to that family over the year. It is delightful! (I am not kidding... I love those letters!) These cards are part of my holiday decorations each year. I cover the entryways into my living room, my music room and my den with all of the cards. If by some wonderful chance I have even more cards, they start adorning my smaller entryways into the dining room and kitchen.

When Mike and I first married, I set a goal of getting 50 cards that year. Now keep in mind, I'm not someone who doesn't send out Christmas cards and just expects them. No sir. I send cards. I send cards to people I've known since I was two all the way to the two policemen who helped me with my "official" wreck the other day. (One of them gave me his card with the police report. The BEST part of that day, I can tell you!) Right now, my list stands at a little more than 110.

I can't tell you how excited I was five years ago when I received exactly 50 cards. (The year before, I had received 48 cards, and I must be honest... that just about did me in.) Thankfully, five years ago one of my friends didn't send her card until New Year's, but it counted because it had the word Christmas in it. Forty-nine. That was worse than the year before when I had 48. Forty-nine. I waited until the middle of January and put my cards away. Oh, well... maybe next year. But then a Christmas miracle happened... in March. My old roommate sent me a Christmas card. It had the word "Christmas" on it. Her children were even dressed in costume for a live nativity scene. She had written on the envelope they had had a very hectic year, and this was the best she could do. FIFTY! FIFTY! Yes. I called her immediately and told her how excited I was to get a Christmas card in March. How fun. How inventive of her. She was wonderful. (I was not kidding. I was ecstatic!) (Now that's a good word... "ecstatic." Not up there with "autumnal," but a good word nonetheless!)

Now what? I was only 42 years old. I had reached an important milestone in my life. There were 50 people out there who would send me Christmas cards. I decided I would up the goal to 65. Wow. That would take some doing, wouldn't it? Sixty-five was a huge number.

Three years later, I reached the goal of 65. Of course, now I had become a telephone solicitor and had started calling to make sure friends and family were sending me a card. (I actually have people who just send me a card... no one else, just me. They tell me that to make me feel bad for them, I think, but I just say "Thank you very much," and let them know how much their Christmas cheer is appreciated.) My goal for the past two years has been 75. Last year, I received 70. This is my year. I can feel it.

Here are the rules for this goal. The card can come from anyone as long as it is a Christmas card with a Christmas greeting appearing somewhere on the card itself. I even accept the Christmas card from the insurance agent of the people who lived in this house before us... we've been here seven years this November, and he diligently sends a card and a calendar every year.

One time I parked crooked at a Cracker Barrel where I had met some friends for a Christmas breakfast. When I came out of the restaurant, there was a torn brown paper bag stuck to my windshield. There were some mild obscenities written on the bag regarding my careless parking (it's hard parking the big gold van sometimes), but at the bottom the person had written very sarcastically "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Ah. A Christmas card. Number 68 to be exact. Of course, when I got home, I neatly trimmed the torn paper bag and used a Sharpie to remove some of the more questionable Christmas verbage, but I hung it up just the same. A Christmas card is a Christmas card... even if the Grinch gives it to you!

I even have a person who sends me anonymous Christmas cards... one or two each year to help me reach my goal. In fact, on Friday, November 21 of this year, I received my first two Christmas cards. One from an anonymous friend, and one from the Salvation Army asking for a donation. They are hanging alone in the entryway of my living room. (See picture above.) I love them... and I love the anonymous people who sent them my way!
"Isn't Christmas stressful enough without having to add the pressure of trying to get a certain number of Christmas cards each year?" you may ask.

To which I cheerfully respond, "Isn't it amazing since Christmas can be so stressful that having a little ol' Christmas card in your mailbox melts away all the 'baggage' that can come with this holiday? Isn't it wonderful to hear from people far and near and see pictures of their family in Christmas sweaters and hear wonderful stories about what everyone has been doing? Isn't it the most glorious feeling to have memories flood over you of times spent with that person or family in years past?"

It's a funny, harmless little goal. I like it. It makes me smile. It makes me skip to my mailbox every day beginning the day after Thanksgiving... which in turn makes my neighbors smile. My goal this year is 75. There, I said it again. I will let you know each Monday, Wednesday and Friday beginning December 1 how I'm doing in the card department just so you can share in the excitement!

Don't forget... there's one more goal I'll share with you tomorrow. But until then, we have a City Adventure to plan.

City Adventure - Part 1

In Part 1 of planning a City Adventure, I will answer the following questions:

What is a City Adventure?

A City Adventure is exploring a new city with your family. Actually, it can be a city you have visited before (like Atlanta), but with a City Adventure you will see and do things you have never done before.

How do you pick the City?

Since gas has been so high up until just recently, we look for a city two to four hours from our home. Atlanta is 2 1/2 hours away. Memphis is 3 1/2 to 4 hours away. We look for a metropolitan city that has a lot of different things to offer: entertainment, lodging, restaurants, tours, etc.

How do you afford the City Adventure?

Much like the Family Date, we put $20 a pay period into an envelope marked City Adventure. Mike and I will also put $10 to $20 from Christmas money or birthday money we might receive into the envelope. If he gets a bonus or an income tax refund, we will put $20 to $50 in the envelope. We are trying to save $500 to $600 for five people staying in a city for two nights. This can take nine to ten months, so we make sure we plan carefully to have things to do the whole family will enjoy.

We are looking for lodging that serves continental breakfast. We are also looking for lodging that has a pool, weight room and any other amenities our family would enjoy. (TIP: We stayed at Homewood Suites in Memphis, and they not only served a continental breakfast, but a "light" supper. One night the supper consisted of chicken pot pie, English peas and a salad bar. The second night they had egg rolls, lo mein noodles and a salad bar. Having two meals a day included in our stay at the hotel was wonderful, and we carefully picked the two "special" restaurants where we wanted to eat while in Memphis.)

Also, in any large city you visit, call the Chamber of Commerce well ahead of time and ask them if any of the museums, zoos, aquariums or other places of interest in their city have "free days" or "free times" which are open to the public. It may be the first Tuesday of the month from noon until 5:00 (and it may be two or three things are free on the same day at the same time). If that's the case, you can plan your trip to include that day and pick one or two of the free things to do. If you go to a museum at noon for free and stay two hours, you can probably still make it to the zoo before the 5:00 deadline and maybe have two free hours there, also.

Tune in tomorrow for City Adventure - Part 2. This post will answer two more questions regarding the planning of your adventure.

I hope you have a great Monday, and I'll talk to you tomorrow!